iTunes Editors’ Notes

The Temptations epitomized the Motown male quintet. With their matching tailored suits and synchronized dance moves, they set the template that guided soul groups in the Sixties, Seventies, and beyond. The Temptations also boasted one of Motown’s most memorable vocalists in David Ruffin, whose coarse holler served as the perfect foil to the candy-coated pop of “My Girl,” “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” and “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep.” The Temptations were often used as a testing ground for new styles, as Berry Gordy adapted his blueprint to changing tastes and trends. Upon Ruffin’s exit in 1968, Gordy allowed visionary producer Norman Whitfield to reinvent the Temps as a psychedelic soul outfit. Even as ambitious productions like “Ball of Confusion” flirted with new textures, there was always a pure pop center within every song. As easily as they had moved towards psychedelia, the group re-invented themselves as a sweet soul group, and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and “Just My Imagination” set the tone for Seventies soul the way “My Girl” had set the tone for the Sixties. Like most in this series, #1s would be more accurately titled “Top Tens,” but the point here is not to prove the band’s hitmaking power as much as their ability to consistently deliver new music in an era of rapidly shifting tastes.

Customer Reviews

Very Special

by
fezi kubwa

You know alot of people don't know about the temptaions ... I mean sure they have heard of them but still people have not a clue. I mean these people are apart of history and its very cool to look back on their success and listen to how the music was then but people just don't have enough appreciation to learn about them. I have resently started to research The Temptaions and I really like them, in fact I'm even going to one of their concerts so I am trying to learn their songs. I hope people really listen and come to like this unique group. Take a timeout from Usher, 50 cent, Beyonce, and all them others. Enjoy what was in the past.

Classic, you can't avoid.

by
the_lavender_door

All I have to say, is that this music is classic, and deserves to be.

This are all great songs.

by
The King of King's

All this songs a special place in our hearts if you ever had a love one pass away or someone ever left you for another person. These songs all bring out the best in the people that listened to the songs in the 60's early 70's. The group was just amazing.

Biography

Formed: 1960 in Detroit, MI

Genre: R&B/Soul

Years Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

Thanks to their fine-tuned choreography — and even finer harmonies — the Temptations became the definitive male vocal group of the 1960s; one of Motown's most elastic acts, they tackled both lush pop and politically charged funk with equal flair, and weathered a steady stream of changes in personnel and consumer tastes with rare dignity and grace. The Temptations' initial five-man lineup formed in Detroit in 1961 as a merger of two local vocal groups, the Primes and the Distants. Baritone...